The Root House Museum, Marietta, GA

The Root House Museum, Marietta, GA
June 30, 2011
Rhetta Akamatsu
Examiner.com

The Root House Museum was the home of William Root and his family. Mr. Root was the first druggist in Marietta and one of the city's earliest settlers. Built in 1845, the house is an excellent example of a middle-class dwelling of the time.

When The Root House was built, it set on the corner of Church and Lemon Streets. When the Clarke Library was built in the 1890's,the house was rolled back on the lot and turned around to face Lemon Street. In the 1980's, it was endangered again and the Cobb Landmarks Society saved it by moving it to its present location at145 Denmead Street, just off the square. It is one of the few surviving frame houses of the pre-Civil War period in Marietta.

The house is decorated with period furniture and costumed docents conduct tours and tell the story of the Root family and life in the 1840's and 1850's in Marietta.

Root House is a wonderful place to visit, not just for the house but for the authentic flower, vegetable and herb gardens, filled with plants that would have been available in the 1860's, and the separate kitchen which has a working 1850's cookstove.

The house also has a local ghost legend which I recount in my book, Haunted Marietta, which says that Mrs. Root is often seen looking through the upstairs bedroom window. Whether this is true or not, it is clear that the house sheltered a close and devoted family, and a visit to The Root House is educational and enjoyable, and leaves one with a warm feeling for the house and the family.